Child s carriage



(No Model.)

A. WOODWA'RD. CHILD'S CARRIAGE.

No. 407.916. Patented July 30, 1889..

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

ABNER lVOODlVARD, OF SHELBURNE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHlLDS CARRIAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 407,916, dated July 30, 1889.

Application filed November 23, 1886. Renewed February '7, 1889. Serial No. 299,092. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ABNER WooDWARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Shelburne Falls, in the county of Franklin, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Convertible Ohilds Carriage, Cradle, and Sleigh, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad therein to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to combine the threefold advantages of a cradle, childs carriage, and sleigh in a single vehicle, the peculiar arrangement of said vehicle and the method of converting it to the different uses of which it is capable being hereinafter more fully described.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the body of the vehicle detached from the running-gear. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, showing said body applied to a childs carriage, one of the front and rear wheels of the same being removed. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the supportingframe of the vehicle attached to a sleigh, the bodybeing omitted. Fig. at is a perspective view showing said frame arranged for use as the runners of a sleigh. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modification of my invention. Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section of one of the knife-edgedbearingsthat support the crib or cradle.

Referring to Fig. ],Arepresen ts the body of a childs carriage or wagon,which body may be of any size and shape that will enable it to be used as a cradle or crib, when required. At.- tached to the opposite ends of this crib or cradle are body-loops B B, the bonds of which I) Z) are adapted to hang upon, either pair of a set of bearingspvhich latter are carried by a sup porting-frame, said bends and bearings being elevated at such a point above said body as to permit a free lateral swinging of the same. These bearings preferably consist of a pair of upper hooks or curves 0 d and a pair of lower hooks or curves 0 (1, said bearings being secured to a front brace O and rear brace D of the supporting-frame. This frame is composed of a pair of rods E E of any suitable material, bent-in the manner shown and united at top to form asingle bar e, that carries an adj ustable keeper F. G is a rod-or other holder attached to this keeper and serving to support a sunshade or other screen or canopy H. 11 t" and j j are bolts, clips, or other couplings where with the lower or parallel horizontal portions or members of the supporting-frame are attached to the front axle I and rear axle J of an ordinary childs carriage or wagon.

The frame E E may constitute the only connection between said axles, or the latter may be further coupled together by an ordinary perch or reach. I

K K represent one or more straps or other ties that maybe used to prevent any'excessive lateral swaying of the body A. During the summer season the suspension-frameEE is mounted upon the running-gear of the carriage, and the body-loops B B are engaged over the lower set of hooks or curves 0' cl, provided it is desired to use the vehicle solely as a childs wagon. \Vhen thus used the body A rides with the utmost ease, because the suspension-frame E E acts as a double spring that takes up all jars or concussions incidental to passing over rough places in the pavements or coming in contact with stones or other obstructions, which easy motion is increased by elevating the bends b b and their bearings c d above said body. Furthermore, the body can be turned end for end with reference to the running-gear, so as to screen the child from the sun, and thus protection can be rendered more complete by properly shifting thecanopy H; but when winter sets in the frame E E is detached from the axles I J and fastened upon a sleigh or sled L, as seen in Fig. 3,the clips 1 tj j being used for this attachment, if desired. The bod y A is then hung upon the hooks c d in precisely the same manner, asseen in Fig. 2, the upper part of the supporting-frame being now used to sustain a curtain or hood to protect the child from the inclement Weather.

To use the bod-y A as a cradle or crib, the ties K K are first uncoupled and the loops B B are detached from the lower set of hooks c d and engaged over the upper paired, which act elevates said body sufficiently to enable it to clear the wheels when the former is swung from side to side. This lateral swinging of the cradle will be equally effective Whether the frame E E be applied to a running-gear, as seen in Fig. 2, or to a sleigh, as represented in Fig. 3; but in some cases the sleigh L maybe dispensed with and the frame E E be placed directly upon the ground, so as to serve as a pair of runners, in which event one or more extra braces M maybe added for the purpose of stiffening said frame.

- Fig. 5 shows another modification of myinvention, in which the lower portion of frame E E is not continuous, but separates in the center and terminates with eyes e to receive screws for attaching said sectional frame either to the axles I J or sleigh L. Finally, it is preferred to make the hooks c o d d and body-loops B B with knife-edges, in order that the cradle A may swing thereon with the least possible friction, one of these anti-friction bearings being seen in Fig. 6.

I claim as my invention 1 1. A laterally-swinging crib or cradle suspended from a supporting-frame composed of a pair of side bars having rounded ends, said bars being drawn together at top to form a single central bar extending longitudinally of the vehicle, said frame having means for attachment either to a sleigh or to the runninggear of a childs carriage, substantially as described.

2. The frame E E, provided with means for attachment either to a running-gear or sleigh, and having an upper pair of hooks c d and a lower pair of hooks c d,upon either of which set the body A can be supported, substantially as described.

3. As a suspension device for mounting a vehicle-body either upon a sleigh or a pair of carriage-axles, the frame E E, having parallel horizontal members and rounded ends, and being united at top to form a single bar e, substantially as herein described.

4. A laterally-swinging crib or cradle suspended from a supporting-frame composed of a pair of side bars having rounded ends, said bars being drawn together at top to form a single central bar extendinglongitudinally of the vehicle, said frame having means for attachment either to a sleigh or to the runninggear of a childs carriage, and said central bar being provided with an adjustable canopy, for the purpose described.

5. A supporting-frame for a laterally-swingin g crib or cradle, which frame is composed of a pair of side bars having rounded ends, said bars being drawn. together at top toform a single central bar extending longitudinally of the cradle, and said frame having means for attachment either to a sleigh or to the running-gear of a childs carriage, as herein described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ABNER \VOODWVARD.

WVitnesses:

E. H. MYERS, A. A. CoLLINs. 

